On the day I lost my job in corporate America many years ago, I collapsed emotionally as my twenty-eight year career was going to relocate to a different state without me.
What I subsequently realized was that the day prior to receiving the news, I had waved the white towel before God.
During that end time season in my job, I found myself doing the jobs of several others as positions were consolidated. I know that many of you can relate to this. I was extremely stressed, was working longer hours and losing much of my personal life. One night, in the midst of a Jazzercise class, I cried out to God,
“I surrender!”
I was emotionally and physically spent. In my spirit I heard the Lord ask very clearly, “Are you sure?” I said, “Yes, God, I can’t do this anymore.” It was the very next day that I was informed of the pending office move to Charlotte N.C.
I had three months to gather my thoughts and try to formulate plans before my employer formally closed the doors. Often during that period I would sit and eat lunch behind a McDonald’s restaurant and just stare at the trees, asking God, “Where do I go next God?” I did not receive an immediate reply but I knew this was about surrender and that He would show me the next step. I had no inkling at the time on how “close” the next step actually was going to be!
I came to realize years later that my McDonald’ days were similar to Hagar’s as she sat in the shade crying in Gen. 21. She was ready to die of thirst because she could not see the well full of water that was only a hundred feet in front of her. She had to wait for the Lord to open her eyes.
The phone call that opened my eyes came the morning after another traumatic event in my life. I was at home had just returned from the vet where we had to put our ten year old Labrador dog down. In the midst of my sorrow, the phone rang and I answered it with, “Yeah, what do you want?”
I don’t think I was ready for what came next. Dr. Ibbitson was on the line to tell me that it appeared as though the Lord was going to provide a great office location for Above & Beyond Counseling Ministries. He had set up an appointment time for us to see it.
When he gave me the address and location, I realized that it was, like Hagar, just yards from the spot where I had sat weeping in the McDonald’s parking lot. In fact, we overlook the same trees and when I pull out of the parking lot to return home each night, I can see my old office because it’s directly across the street! My new “position” has been a blessing in so many ways!
God indeed has a great sense of humor! He is faithful to provide for his kids, but it takes surrender, trust and clear eyesight. The enemy will always try to derail the plans God has for our lives with hindering spirits that will try to keep us in the dark like Hagar. They will try to steal your will to trust God and invite in spirits of doubt, fear of failure, depression, and hopelessness. The demonic realm’s plan, as described in John 10:10, is to kill, steal and destroy, but that is not what God has planned for us!
If you have lost your job, or if you think you may be on the verge of it, you need to know that God has a promotion in store for you! Whatever unfolds in the natural you can know that the Lord will watch over you and lead you, in His timing, to a better place in the natural and spirit realm.
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